Nigeria
In The Shadow of Biafra
Dr Louisa Egbunike’s documentary weaves together an engaging narrative of reflections from authors touched by one of the most devastating conflicts of the 1960s, one that still casts its shadow on Nigerians around the world
Kleptoscope #4: Nigeria, London and the Dirty Cash Trail
Kleptoscope returns with an evening focussed on Nigeria, a country criticised by former Prime Minister David Cameron as “fantastically corrupt”. Chaired by investigative journalist Oliver Bullough, a panel of experts will address the roots of Nigerian corruption, ask why so much of the stolen money ends up in London, and discuss why more isn’t being done to give it back.
Fixing Nigeria’s Broken Economy
“Only God can fix Nigeria.” – proverb Chairing a debate organised in collaboration with the Royal African Society, broadcaster Funmi Iyanda began by asking what could be done to combat the perfect storm of plummeting oil prices, a widening budget deficit, plunging growth rate, and dwindling foreign currency reserves currently threatening Nigeria.
The True Cost of Corruption
By Alexandra Sarabia On Wednesday 24 May, an audience gathered at the Frontline Club for a discussion on corruption and its far-reaching implications. Sarah Chayes and Tom Burgis joined freelance journalist and host of Newshour on the BBC World Service, Owen Bennett-Jones, to talk about their experiences in Africa, Afghanistan and beyond. Chayes is an expert on kleptocracy, anti-corruption […]
Boko Haram: Africa’s Islamic State?
By Agnes Chambre The Frontline Club was at full capacity on Wednesday 4 February, as a panel of experts discussed the implications of Boko Haram’s presence in West Africa in the lead up to the Nigerian presidential elections on 14 February. The panel included: Bala Mohammed Liman, a doctoral candidate at SOAS specialising in the intersection […]
Fault Lines in Unknowable Spaces: Boko Haram and the hunt for Nigeria’s missing schoolgirls
By Elliott Goat The Frontline Club’s First Wednesdays kicked off a discussion on the news story that has dominated all others over the past month: Boko Haram and the hunt for Nigeria’s missing schoolgirls. Channel 4 News’ foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller, chairing the evening’s discussion, began by asking who are Boko Haram? What are their ultimate objectives? How […]
On the frontline of defending women’s rights: A conversation with Human Rights Watch
By Anna Reitman The Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch joined The Guardian’s Liz Ford on Tuesday 13 May to discuss the highs and lows of the challenges faced in improving the lives of women and girls around the world. The event took place as the world’s attention focuses on Nigeria’s kidnapped schoolgirls and subsequent failure to […]
First Wednesday: The Hunt for Nigeria’s Missing Schoolgirls
The recent abduction by militant Islamist group Boko Haram of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls sparked global outrage, leading to the #BringBackOurGirls campaign and military assistance from Britain, the US, France and China. With attacks in northern Nigeria on the increase we will be bringing together a panel of experts to examine the emergence of Boko Haram and what is being done to combat them.
Albino killings in Tanzania: Harry Freeland’s ‘In the Shadow of the Sun’
By Jim Treadway We don’t choose the colour of our skin, or the place where we are born. But for people with albinism in Tanzania, their appearance has made them a hunted, sub-human species. “We are killed. We are dismembered,” says Josephat Torner, one of the albino subjects in Harry Freeland’s documentary, In the Shadow […]
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 30 January – 5 February
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 30 January to Sunday, 5 February from Foresight News By Nicole Hunt European leaders gather in Brussels on Monday for an informal meeting of the European Council, during which discussions are set to focus on jobs and the new fiscal stabilisation treaty agreed at their controversial […]
That back to school feeling: talks and screenings to feed your mind in September
There are plenty of talks and screenings at Frontline Club in September to get the grey matter going after the summer season. At our First Wednesday Special, discuss the cultural and political changes set in motion by the events of 9/11 ten years ago and look ahead to the next decade. We’ll also be discussing extremism, Somalia, photography in […]
Ivory Coast: a watershed for African democracy?
Now that defiant former leader, Laurent Gbagbo is in custody and Alassane Ouattara has been installed as the duly-elected president of Ivory coast what are the lessons that can be learned if an election is disputed in the future in Africa? There has been a considerable amount of discussion about the implications of events in […]
Nigeria: Violence, unrest and uncertainty
Nigeria is coming to terms with a spate of violent attacks that have left hundreds dead and a political system mired in uncertainty following the return of ailing president Umaru Yar’Adua. We will attempt to unpick the complex wider political situation and make sense of this month’s events at a Frontline Club debate on April […]
Ed Kashi at the Frontline: Curse of the Black Gold
Photographer Ed Kashi was at the Frontline Club in March to talk about his work and experiences in the Niger Delta. Sean O’Hagan, who moderated this event, later reviewed Ed’s book for his On Photography column in the Guardian- and kindly gave the Club a mention too. Have a read here. If you missed the […]
So dusty you can taste it
I think I’ve swallowed half of the Sahara since I arrived in Kano in northern Nigeria on Sunday afternoon. It’s the harmattan haze. Fine sand and dust hangs thick in the air over the city along with air pollution. Poor visibility led to my flight on Saturday being diverted back to Abuja, then a few […]
Jonathan Elendu held in Nigeria
Jonathan Elendu, an online journalist based in Michigan, has been detained by security forces since he arrived in Nigeria on October 17, say Reporters Without Borders. Elendu publishes the online publication Elendu Reports. The journalist recently wrote about the economic and ecological disaster happening in the Niger delta and where the documentary filmaker Andrew Berends […]
Andrew Berends “temporarily released”
The filmmaker Andrew Berends has been temporarily released for the weekend along with his Nigerian translator, Samuel George. The two were arrested earlier this week while working on a film about the oil business in the Niger Delta, “Nigeria’s democratic government has made enormous strides since the days of dictator Sani Abacha, when dozens of […]
Film maker Andrew Berends arrested in Nigeria
Andrew Berends and his Nigerian fixer Samuel George were arrested in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt at the weekend. Berends has been working in the Niger Delta since April making a film about the oil-producing area that has been riven with conflict between government forces and armed separatists since the early 1990s, “Berends was […]
UN condemns murder of Nigerian journalist
Paul Abayomi Ogundeji, a reporter with the Nigerian newspaper ThisDay, was shot and killed in the Nigerian capital Lagos on 17 August. His killer or killers have still not been found. Simon Kolawole a colleague of Ogundeji, bemoaned the state of the justice system in such killings, Those of us who have no police escorts, […]